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George Greenwood
George Greenwood was keeper of Oakenshaw Park with whom Hilda Ogden had a platonic relationship in January 1968. George and Hilda met on the wintry afternoon of 31st December 1967 when she visited the park with the infant Peter and Susan Barlow who were in her charge. George looked up from his plants when a strange old man with a cane absentmindedly bumped into Susan's pushchair, and walked over to chit-chat with Hilda, quickly managing to make her forget the offence. As Hilda had never been to the park before, George gave her a VIP tour, an experience she enjoyed so much that she returned after seeing to Stan's dinner and sat with George in the park shelter. They exchanged their family histories, with Hilda correcting George's assumption that the twins were hers and George telling Hilda that he was married with two grown children, Lizzie and Robert, and relating a difficult time in his life the previous Winter when he was heavily in debt with HP and Lizzie was poorly from losing a child. A mutual friendship developed, and Hilda got into a routine of visiting the park to see George, though she frequently lost track of time resulting in a scramble to get home before Stan got suspicious. George advised Hilda to treat Stan to keep him sweet; he regularly gave his wife Agnes whipped cream walnuts for the same purpose. Hilda liked George's blue budgie Winnie so much that George got Hilda a bird which she named Mabel and kept with Winnie. On one occasion, Hilda left so abruptly that she forgot to lift her scarf. Finding the garment in George's work shed, together with some whipped cream walnuts, Agnes realised that George was up to his old tricks. The woman returned the scarf to Stan and told him that she was used to George meeting women at the park but, knowing that nothing would ever come of his dalliances, she enjoyed having him spoil her to alleviate his guilt and encouraged him to get Hilda to do the same. Hilda and George never knew that their spouses were onto them, but Hilda stopped seeing George anyway as she feared she would drive Stan into another woman's arms. Three years later, George and Hilda met again when George judged flowers and veg at the Community Centre flower show. George told Hilda that Agnes had died in the interim. Stan tried to win with an orchid, but unfortunately for him George recognised it as one stolen from the park. Albert Tatlock won on cabbages, dahlias and geraniums but lost out on roses, although he thought that nobody else's entries were a patch on what he had grown at his allotment. :The character of George was considered to take over the Corner Shop after David and Irma Barlow left the programme in 1968, before executive producer Richard Everitt decided against the idea. List of appearances 1968 *Mon 1st Jan *Wed 3rd Jan *Mon 8th Jan *Wed 10th Jan *Mon 15th Jan *Wed 17th Jan *Mon 22nd Jan 1971 *Mon 28th Jun *Wed 30th Jun *Mon 5th Jul *Wed 7th Jul Category:Coronation Street characters Category:1968 minor characters Category:1971 minor characters